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3.88 AVERAGE
3.88 AVERAGE
Quick Summary: A dark and gruesome psychological thriller
My Review: The Guilty One by Bill Schweigart was an intense ride. This book had me entirely enthralled!
About the Book: Shifting between past events and present moments, this story follows Detective Cal Farrell, as he works to identify a deranged serial killer who seems to be coming for him.
About the Character: While healing from injuries and working to stay sane, Cal has to deal with sudden blackouts, missing time, and unclear memories. He also has to come to terms with heady emotions, family drama, personal insecurities, and hostility from his colleagues. Despite all of that, he desperately tries his best to put the puzzling pieces from his mind back together in order to uncover the connection between an old murder scene and a new lynching that has everyone baffled. Can he figure out who the real killer is before it's too late?
My Final Say: Readers who enjoy stories with killers in plain sight will get a thrill from this book. I strongly recommend it.
Other: I believe this book would be a fantastic book club read.
Rating: 4/5
Recommend: Yes
Audience: A
Status/Level: R
Triggers: Violence, MDK
Appreciation is extended to the author, to Dreamscape Media, and to NetGalley, who provided access to an audio ARC of this title in exchange for an honest review. The thoughts and opinions I have shared are my own.
My Review: The Guilty One by Bill Schweigart was an intense ride. This book had me entirely enthralled!
About the Book: Shifting between past events and present moments, this story follows Detective Cal Farrell, as he works to identify a deranged serial killer who seems to be coming for him.
About the Character: While healing from injuries and working to stay sane, Cal has to deal with sudden blackouts, missing time, and unclear memories. He also has to come to terms with heady emotions, family drama, personal insecurities, and hostility from his colleagues. Despite all of that, he desperately tries his best to put the puzzling pieces from his mind back together in order to uncover the connection between an old murder scene and a new lynching that has everyone baffled. Can he figure out who the real killer is before it's too late?
My Final Say: Readers who enjoy stories with killers in plain sight will get a thrill from this book. I strongly recommend it.
Other: I believe this book would be a fantastic book club read.
Rating: 4/5
Recommend: Yes
Audience: A
Status/Level: R
Triggers: Violence, MDK
Appreciation is extended to the author, to Dreamscape Media, and to NetGalley, who provided access to an audio ARC of this title in exchange for an honest review. The thoughts and opinions I have shared are my own.
Wow, this book grabs you from chapter one and doesn't let up! This was a great psychological thriller. Arlington, VA police officer Cal Farrell is working and gets a call that there is an active shooter in a nearby office building. After that, he wakes up in the hospital, not sure what happened after he entered the conference room where the gunman was. But, he does remember Heather, the woman who was shot yet gave Cal her badge to enter the office space. As he becomes more involved with Heather and her friends, he is also pursuing a rash of murders. But, he has made enemies on the force after his day with the active shooter, earning him the nickname "Killer Cal".
Great action, great suspense. I loved it!
Great action, great suspense. I loved it!
This was a good story and I will probably read another from this author. Parts of it were a bit contrived or too coincidental. It was a nice bite sized thriller
The Guilty One by Bill Schweigart
Narrated by Matt Godfrey
Six months earlier, young police officer Cal Farrell longed for the day he could make detective. He'd have to put in his time, prove himself over the long haul, and earn his stripes the hard way. But then there was an active shooter incident, people died, including another officer, and soon Cal was Detective Cal Farrell, a hero who stopped a mass shooter. But Cal doesn't remember what really happened that day, he's in therapy to help him recover his memories, and he feels like an imposter who had accolades thrust on him that he doesn't deserve.
To top it off, he has co-workers making fun of him and some go so far as to hate him. No one he works with is happy about Cal suddenly earning a promotion to detective. He even has a nickname that he despises, Killer Cal. All he can do it try to prove himself, prove he can do the job, prove that he is worthy of the promotion.
Running helps Cal, helps to fend off the eye twitches and helps him to stay grounded. Today's run is when he finds a body. Then there is another body and Cal can't stay out of an investigation that isn't his to investigate. But he can't say away, he wants to really be a detective, to solve crimes, to earn his title. And these murders are starting to seem personal.
I really like Cal, he seems like a nice guy, although he also seems naïve and idealistic. His new partner and mentor tells him to let it go, he can't solve every crime, he's going to be sorry if he sticks his nose where he's not wanted and where he has no business sticking his nose. Cal can't help himself and he digs himself into a deeper and deeper hole until I could see no way for him to climb out. Matt Godfrey's narration fits Cal so well, the story, seen through Cal's eyes, has a folksy feel that Godfrey portrays very well. I wouldn't mind seeing more of Cal in the future.
Pub Mar 21, 2023
Thank you to Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for this ARC.
Narrated by Matt Godfrey
Six months earlier, young police officer Cal Farrell longed for the day he could make detective. He'd have to put in his time, prove himself over the long haul, and earn his stripes the hard way. But then there was an active shooter incident, people died, including another officer, and soon Cal was Detective Cal Farrell, a hero who stopped a mass shooter. But Cal doesn't remember what really happened that day, he's in therapy to help him recover his memories, and he feels like an imposter who had accolades thrust on him that he doesn't deserve.
To top it off, he has co-workers making fun of him and some go so far as to hate him. No one he works with is happy about Cal suddenly earning a promotion to detective. He even has a nickname that he despises, Killer Cal. All he can do it try to prove himself, prove he can do the job, prove that he is worthy of the promotion.
Running helps Cal, helps to fend off the eye twitches and helps him to stay grounded. Today's run is when he finds a body. Then there is another body and Cal can't stay out of an investigation that isn't his to investigate. But he can't say away, he wants to really be a detective, to solve crimes, to earn his title. And these murders are starting to seem personal.
I really like Cal, he seems like a nice guy, although he also seems naïve and idealistic. His new partner and mentor tells him to let it go, he can't solve every crime, he's going to be sorry if he sticks his nose where he's not wanted and where he has no business sticking his nose. Cal can't help himself and he digs himself into a deeper and deeper hole until I could see no way for him to climb out. Matt Godfrey's narration fits Cal so well, the story, seen through Cal's eyes, has a folksy feel that Godfrey portrays very well. I wouldn't mind seeing more of Cal in the future.
Pub Mar 21, 2023
Thank you to Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for this ARC.
dark
This started out really well. I really liked the dual timeline, with Cal’s present day & one day six months ago - the worst day of Cal’s life. Alternating these timelines gave us an insight to Cal’s struggles since that day - survivor’s guilt, repressed memories, the attitudes from other cops. However, once the flashbacks stop, I found the story & characters to be flat and dull. There was plenty of action & twists but it just felt really confusing. It didn’t have me on the edge of my seat - I finished this so I would know the outcome. Ultimately, this book had an interesting premise but it was just not for me.
Thanks to Crooked Lane Books & NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Thanks to Crooked Lane Books & NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Patrol officer Cal Farrell dreamed of being a detective one day, but he never dreamed he would make detective so suddenly and solely because the dept decided the city of Alexandria, VA needed a hero after a horrific mass shooting in which Cal’s partner was killed and Cal was the last person to see the killer alive – before the killer shot himself. Cal couldn’t remember anything that happened once he made it into the conference room with all of the bloody bodies and the killer. But he and the rest of the dept know the killer actually took his own life. Cal knows he wasn’t a hero and his fellow cops know so he has no confidence at all in himself. And, then people around him start dying. This book veered off in directions I never saw coming. What started out as an interesting psychological look at what happens when a young, inexperienced policeman witnesses things no one should have to see turns into an intense thriller that you won’t be able to put down.
dark
mysterious
medium-paced